Tomatoes have been grown and used in the world throughout the ages. They can be used raw in salads and garnishing, they can be processed into pastes, ketchups, and sauces. Green unripe tomatoes can also be fried, pickled, or used to make salsa.
Tomatoes can also be squeezed into juices, and used in alcoholic drinks like the bloody mary. Botanically, a tomato is a berry which is a subset of fruit but it has often, for culinary reasons, been called a vegetable, due to its savory flavor. I hope that settles the argument.
Tomatoes form a large part of Euro Mediterranean cuisine. This is most visible in Middle Eastern and Italian food. Pizza is incomplete without a shred of tomato while pasta sauces are predominantly made from this heavenly fruit. Both Spanish and Catalan cuisine have been noted for their love of tomatoes in their food.
Tomatoes have a high level of acidity and this makes them ideal for preservation by canning. They can be canned either wholly, in parts or even as pastes or sauces. The tomato fruit can also be preserved by sun drying. It is often sold in bags or soaked in jars of specifically olive oil.
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